Frank Jacobs III / The Times of TrentonThe Sky King Fireworks store in Morrisville. Pa. on Thursday June 26, 2008

A New Jersey teen who lost sight in his left eye in a fireworks accident last year is suing the Morrisville, Pa., fireworks outlet that supplied the explosives.

According to court documents, 19-year-old Thomas Eldershaw of Jackson was at a Fourth of July party last year when a friend asked him to help set off a few fireworks. Eldershaw had just lit the fuse on one when an aerial shell misfired, “sending a tennis-ball sized projectile into (his) eye and face,” according to lawyer Steven Blader.

The projectile burned his face and left Eldershaw partially blind.

The suit, filed last month in Superior Court of Ocean County, seeks unspecified damages against Sky King Fireworks of Morrisville, the fireworks manufacturer and the friend who crossed state lines to buy $1,200 worth of fireworks at the store.

A call to Sky King's corporate headquarters in Port St. Lucie, Fla., was not returned Wednesday.

The lawsuit contends Sky King’s liability in Eldershaw’s injury stems from a 2006 case. Then, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office sued Sky King and three other Pennsylvania retailers for soliciting New Jersey residents despite a state ban. Sky King signed a consent order containing several provisions intended to protect consumers, but Blader contends the company has violated the agreement.

The lawsuit states that on June 9, 2010, the store sold fireworks to Eldershaw’s friend without “clearly or conspicuously” disclosing their illegality.

The latest lawsuit reignites a debate over the legality of so-called “border stores” — Pennsylvania fireworks retailers that are allowed to sell to New Jersey residents despite a state ban on the sale, possession or use of fireworks without a permit.

Despite their illegality, fireworks in New Jersey are still celebrated as a hallowed Fourth of July tradition.

“Independence Day without fireworks is like celebrating Christmas without Christmas trees or Thanksgiving without turkey,” a Sky King manager told The Times in 2008. “There is nothing more strongly associated with the tradition of Independence Day than fireworks.”

But the law surrounding the explosives is complicated.

Until 2004, fireworks purchased from Pennsylvania had to be shipped to the buyer. But a reconfigured law allowed fireworks to be sold in person, provided the buyer takes them across the Pennsylvania border.

Pennsylvanians can’t purchase fireworks at stores like Sky King, but with an ID proving they live out of state, New Jersey residents like Eldershaw’s friend can.

The loophole has drawn the ire of lawmakers including former state Sen. Peter Inverso, who five years ago introduced a resolution asking the Pennsylvania Legislature to stop fireworks sales to New Jerseyans.

Pennsylvania Rep. John T. Galloway, who represents Morrisville and other portions of Bucks County, subsequently introduced a “Good Neighbor Bill” that would have prohibited the out-of-state sales. The bill was never signed into law.

In a press release Wednesday, Inverso blasted the Pennsylvania Legislature for its inaction.

“If these products are too dangerous to sell to Pennsylvania residents, they are too dangerous to sell to our residents,” Inverso said. “As long as it continues to permit border stores to operate and sell to out-of-state residents, the Pennsylvania Legislature is disregarding the safety of the people of New Jersey.”

A 2009 report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported two fireworks-related deaths and 8,800 injuries that required a trip to the emergency room that year.

But despite those figures, one industry advocate says the number of fireworks-related injuries has dropped significantly even as usage increases and more states relax their laws. From 2000 to 2010, the amount of fireworks used increased from 152 million to 213 million pounds. At the same time, the number of fireworks-related injuries that required Emergency Room attention dropped from 11,000 in 2000 to the 8,800 reported in 2009.

Forty-six states, including the District of Columbia, have legalized at least some type of fireworks, according to Julie L. Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association.

“Consumer fireworks are safe when they’re used properly,” Heckman said. “Typically, when something goes amiss it’s because the users didn’t follow the directions.”